'I was responsible for deaths', admits Huntley

Soham accused Ian Huntley appeared to break down in the witness box of the Old Bailey today as he denied the murder of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman but accepted he was responsible for their deaths.

Huntley, 29, said he had never intended to kill the 10-year-olds or to cause them really serious bodily harm.

Asked to tell the jury how he felt about the events of August 4 last year, he said: "I wish I could turn back the clock, I wish I could do things differently, I just wish none of this had never happened.

"I'm sorry for what's happened, I'm ashamed of what I did. I accept I'm responsible for the deaths of Holly and Jessica but there's nothing I

can do about it now.

"I sincerely wish there was."

Huntley had paused and sniffed through much of his evidence but it was the first time he had appeared to cry during several hours in the witness box giving evidence on the first day of his defence during the 20-day murder trial.

Huntley denies murdering Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in his home in Soham on August 4 last year but has admitted one count of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

The jury has heard him admit that he contemplated suicide in the days after the girls' death and that he attempted suicide during his time in prison, while awaiting trial.

He admitted lying to police during the 13-day search for the girls and also trying to cover his own tracks by attempting to destroy forensic evidence linking him to the deaths.

He said he had been unable to remember the events of August 4 initially but that his memories had returned after his overdose in jail.